The ''Swan'' class were built as a 14-gun class of ship sloops for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, although an extra two guns were added soon after completion.

Design

The class was designed by the Surveyor of the Navy, John Williams, and two vessels to this design ( ''Swan'' and ''Kingfisher'') were ordered in January 1766. Twenty-three more were ordered to the same design between 1773 and 1779; they formed the 'standard' ship sloop design of the British Navy during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, during which eleven of them were lost. Surviving vessels went on to serve during the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...

and

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The design provided for 16 gunports (8 per side, excluding the bridle-ports) but one pair was initially left unoccupied, and the ships were always rated at 14 guns. However an eighth pair of guns was added from 1780 onwards to utilise the vacant ports, without any change in the nominal rating. The ''Swan'' class sloops were unusually attractive for the type of vessel. Not only did they have sleek hull lines but they also carried an unusual amount of decoration for their size. They were built just before the Admiralty issued orders that all vessels (especially lesser rates and unrated vessels) should have minimal decoration and carvings to save on costs, due to the seemingly ever-continuing war with France and other nations.

Construction

Following the initial 1766 order for two ships, a second pair was ordered in 1773 ( ''Cygnet'' and ''Atalanta'') and a further five in 1775 ( ''Pegasus'' in April, ''Fly'' in August, and ''Swift'', ''Dispatch'' and ''Fortune'' in October); all these were built in the Royal Dockyards. Another five were contracted in November 1775 to be built by commercial shipbuilders ( ''Hound'', ''Hornet'', ''Vulture'', ''Spy'' and ''Cormorant''), and a further pair during 1776 ( ''Zebra'' and ''Cameleon''). Another two were ordered from the Royal Dockyards in January 1777 ( ''Fairy'' and ''Nymph'') and a final seven from commercial constructors over the following 30 months ( ''Savage'', ''Fury'', ''Delight'' and ''Thorn'' during 1777, ''Bonetta'' and ''Shark'' during 1778, and ''Alligator'' in 1779).

Ships

References

*''

British Warships in the Age of Sail ''British Warships in the Age of Sail'' is a series of four books by maritime historian Rif Winfield comprising a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships that served or were intended to serve in the (British) Royal Navy ...

: 1714-1792'', Rif Winfield, Seaforth Publishing, 2007. *''

: 1793-1817'', Rif Winfield, Seaforth Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN, 978-1-84415-717-4 Sloop classes